Uusally a topic that crops up more at this time of year than anytihng else - my thoughts are in the following article, written for a local magazine (here ends the shameless self-promotion!)
Drinking and driving. Just how much of an issue is it here on this small, sun-drenched Mediterranean island we all love so much?
The experts in this field in Europe are the organisation SARTRE (Social Attitudes to Road Traffic Risks in Europe), a research group that have carried out a series of surveys over the last couple of decades analysing the opinions and attitudes of drivers across Europe on a number of driving-related topics. In the most recent of these studies, published in 2003, it may surprise some to hear that Cyprus came bottom of the class of 16 countries studied when asked whether they ever drive after having even only a small amount to drink. Only 39% of Cyprus’ respondents replied that they never drink and drive, compared to over 90% for the countries at the top of the table, Hungary and Poland. In the UK, the figure was 76%.
So it would seem that we are living in a country with a definite laissez-faire attitude to this issue, and let us not imagine for a second that this is restricted to the indigenous population. For those in the expat community, it is a curious cultural phenomenon in Cyprus that drinking and driving does not seem to have the same stigma attached to it that newcomers to the country may be used to experiencing elsewhere.
Speaking from personal experience, in the UK in recent years awareness of the problems caused by drink driving has resulted in the drink driver becoming regarded as something of a social pariah – try leaving a dinner party and getting into your car after a few glasses of wine and you’re likely to be wrestled to the floor and have your keys forcibly removed! Similarly, staff in bars and clubs have become increasingly sensitive to this issue and can often be found to intervene if they think someone is about to drive having had more than a couple of drinks. I’ve even witnessed questions being asked if a party arriving by car then proceed to all order alcoholic drinks.
Here in Cyprus, the culture appears to be very different. I’ve been on numerous nights out where people have happily stepped into their cars for the drive home after many hours of drinking. Yet no-one seems to say anything - it would seem that for many it has become the elephant in the corner. The stigma just isn’t there, to the extent that I’ve even heard people cheerfully defending their actions as they set out for home with their children in the back of the car. Strangely, it seems you’re more likely to be treated as the pariah for speaking out.
The prevailing attitude when dining out doesn’t do much to help the situation either. During a recent visit from members of my family, the waiter in one tourist restaurant expressed great surprise when my sister declined the free liqueur at the end of the meal, explaining that she was driving home; “You don’t need to worry about that” he claimed; “There are no police around here”. Despite the fact that this wasn’t strictly true, and that we were dining in Coral Bay, where a young Bulgarian woman had been knocked over and killed by an over-the-limit driver only a couple of weeks before, this seems for many to be the root of the matter; it’s OK to drink and drive because I won’t (or am certainly very unlikely to) get caught. Is this truly the level of sophistication our society has reached? The only thing that will prevent a wilful breach of the law is if there’s an appreciable risk of actually being apprehended and punished?
Could it possibly be simply an extension of the holiday mentality? People are notorious for leaving their inhibitions at home when holidaying abroad, and behaving in ways they wouldn’t dream of under normal circumstances. Does this perhaps become a permanent affliction when residing in foreign climes longer term?
Or do people genuinely believe that drink driving laws are all just a little bit unnecessary, and as long as they can “hold their drink” there’s nothing to worry about? Well a few quick facts should serve to disabuse most of this notion (the statistics used are from the US, mainly due to the greater wealth of available recorded information):
- Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and injure someone every two minutes.
- In 2005, 16,885 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents, representing 39 percent of all traffic-related deaths.
- Of the 16,885 people who died in alcohol-related crashes in 2005, 14,539 or 86 percent were killed in crashes where at least one driver or nonoccupant had a BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) of 0.08 or higher (the legal level in Cyprus was recently reduced from 0.08 to 0.05)
- An estimated 254,000 people were injured in crashes where police reported alcohol was present.
- Alcohol was present in 24 percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes.
- Over half of the 414 child passengers ages 14 and younger that died in an alcohol-related crash were riding with a drunk driver.
- Of the 1,946 traffic fatalities among children ages 0 to 14 years old, 21 percent involved alcohol.
- In 2005, 16 percent of drivers aged 16 to 20 who were killed in an accident had been drinking alcohol.
- Alcohol involvement in fatal crashes was 3 times higher at night as during the day. For all crashes, the alcohol involvement rate is 5 times higher at night.
Source: "Impaired Driving." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2006.
Any dissenters still prepared to deny that drinking and driving significantly increases the risk to yourself and other road users? No? Good.
Another problem facing the authorities here in Cyprus is that even if you do get caught, the punishment is unlikely to be too severe; a colleague’s friend was recently fined only CYP70.00 fine for drink driving, hardly the significant deterrent that would be provided by the threat of time behind bars, or even a lengthy ban. The ultimate punishment could of course be delivered in the form of the feelings of guilt that would come from actually knocking down and killing or permanently disabling someone, but by then it is too late, and too many innocent people end up sharing the consequences.
So what are the answers? What can be and should be done? A public information campaign perhaps needs to be somewhat more hard hitting, along the lines of the “Drinking and driving wrecks lives” that has been used in the UK, or maybe the more direct “If you drink and drive, you’re a bloody idiot!” adopted by the Australian government.
An awareness campaign along these lines may certainly help, but I doubt many would argue that lack of information is the only problem; can anyone genuinely claim to be ignorant of the possible consequences? More random checks by police armed with breathalysers would also help, but only if followed through more stringently and severely.
Perhaps more severe punishment is the answer. Some countries have experimented with tactics such as impounding the vehicles of convicted drink drivers, or installing ignition locks that require a successful breath test before the car can be started. There are limitations to these approaches though, not least that they require someone first to be apprehended for the very crime they seek to prevent before they can become effective. Strategies focussing on prevention rather than deterrence have been proven to be more successful in the longer term.
Ultimately, the simple fact is that more individual responsibility needs to be taken. Not having a drink if you’re planning on driving home can undoubtedly be an inconvenience, but there are ways in which you can counter this; perhaps by taking turns and sharing lifts with dining companions, or maybe stay closer to home and walk, or you could always take a taxi – there are plenty of them around and the small size of our region means you’re never too far from home.
It is likely that if you make a habit of driving home after a boozy night out that you’ll get away with it the majority of the time, and the statistics certainly back this up, but at the same time I think it is fair to say that if you play Russian roulette enough times, you will eventually get the chamber with the bullet. Don’t drink and drive – it simply isn’t worth it.
